Bonita Vista High School was the place to be on Monday if you were a high school baseball or high school boys lacrosse fan in South County.
Metro-Mesa League championship banners were on order for either the host Bonita Vista Barons or visiting Eastlake Titans — or both — in both sports.
Eastlake swept the day to earn a co-championship with Bonita Vista in boys lacrosse while the Titans took a huge step forward in claiming outright possession of this year’s baseball banner.
Batter up
Eastlake built an early 7-0 lead in an eventual 10-1 victory to improve to 5-0 in league play, 17-5 overall, in the baseball contest.
The Titans scored once in the first inning and tacked on five more runs in the second inning on the strength of a grand slam by senior Noah Betanco to zoom in front 6-0. The visitors added another run in the top the third inning before the hosts scratched out their only run in the game in the bottom of the frame.
A two-run home run by junior Kalani Jauregui in the top of the sixth inning extended the EHS lead to 10-1.
Betanco, the Titans’ home run leader with five, collected five RBI in the key victory while banging out two hits and scoring once.
Jauregui had two RBI while scoring once. Junior Angel Laya went three-for-three with a single, double and triple and one RBI while scoring three times. Senior Jacob May, who leads the team with a 0.421 hitting average and 21 RBI, had four hits with two doubles and scored two runs.
Senior Harry Shin picked up one RBI for Bonita Vista as senior Ty Vann scored the Barons’ lone run.
Junior Nick Romero improved to 8-1 on the mound by scattering six hits and allowing one earned run. He has 55 strikeouts in 53 innings.
Overall, the Titans used three pitchers in the win. Senior Josh Garcia and sophomore Max Tello each pitched one inning in relief.
Seniors Ismael Castanon and Landon Wales and juniors Cristian Ayala and Nico Chavez strode to the hill for the hosts. Castanon allowed five hits and seven runs while striking out two batters and walking three.
Romero exited after throwing 67 pitches.
“It was great to get this win,” Ayala said. “We’ve been working for this for a long time.”
“I was very excited, a lot of emotions, when I saw the ball go off the bat,” Betanco said in referencing his grand slam. “It feels very gratifying to get this win.”
The Titans entered the week ranked eighth overall among the section’s Division I teams — just enough to qualify for the Open Division playoffs.
EHS head coach Dave Gallegos said he didn’t know quite what to expect from this year’s team following the graduation of 16 seniors.
“We still have a young team,” the Titan bench boss said. “I really didn’t know what we’d have in pitching, but pitching has turned out to be our strength. We pulled up a lot of players from last year’s junior varsity team. With such a young team, it took us some time to start to gel.”
Bonita Vista traveled to Eastlake on Tuesday in a return engagement. The Titans stretched their winning streak to nine games with a 9-0 win.
The back-to-back victories against the Barons pushed the Titans three games on top of their nearest challenger in the league standings with three games remaining in regular season play to secure no worse than a co-title.
May had four RBI in Tuesday’s matchup while Laya had three as Eastlake racked up 12 hits.
Senior Jake Davis (5-0) threw a complete game four-hitter with 12 strikeouts to earn the win. He has 40 strikeouts in 39.2 innings.
The section baseball playoffs start May 14 and conclude May 25 in seven divisions: Open Division, Division I-IV-AA.
Co-champions
The rivalries have changed over the years in South County lacrosse but the Titans always somehow seem to be in the middle of them.
For the second consecutive year, Eastlake and Bonita Vista will share the league banner following the Titans’ must-win 13-8 victory on Monday.
The Barons had won the initial meeting between the teams, 12-11, on April 1 pushing them one game in front in the seven-team league standings.
The Titans took care of making up that one-game difference by zipping out to a 5-0 lead in Monday’s do-or-die contest. The hosts narrowed the score to 10-8 with 8:17 left in the final quarter but the visitors ended the game with three unanswered goals.
Eastlake junior Markell Bivens led all scorers with five goals while Bonita Vista junior Damian Nunez and senior Caden Ada Tannehill each scored three times. Three Titans had three goals each: seniors Gabriel Hernandez, Jacob Sallee and Samuel Hernandez.
Eastlake received single goals from freshman Ethan McKeever and junior A.J. Jocson. Bonita Vista received single goals from senior Tommy Lee-Trejo and junior Aiden Jenkins.
“In a game like this, you can’t start slow against a good team like that,” BV head coach Peter Locke said.
The Titans improved their season record to 10-1 in league, 14-5 overall, with one game remaining (Thursday against Otay Ranch).
Bonita Vista saw its otherwise outstanding record dip to 15-3, 11-1 in league play.
“It’s cool to have a seven-team league this year,” EHS head coach Tristan Corpus said.
“That goes to show how many games we have to play this year in league — 12. We have a senior-heavy team with 21 graduating seniors. But we have a strong young roster, especially on attack.”
The section playoffs will feature four divisions: Open Division, Division I, Division II and Division III. Both the Barons and Titans will be battling for seeding position among Division II schools.
Division II leaders include No. 1 Francis Parker (14-3), No. 2 Point Loma (14-3), No. 3 San Dieguito Academy (10-6), No. 4 Eastlake (14-5), No. 5 Fallbrook (13-5), No. 6 Bonita Vista (15-3), No. 7 Mission Hills (7-9), No. 8 University City (6-11, No. 9 Foothills Christian (13-4), No. 10 Valhalla (8-7).
After the Open Division teams are selected, 12 teams qualify in each of Division I, Division II and Division III for postseason competition.
First-round play is scheduled to start May 7-8. Boys finals are scheduled May 17-18 at San Dieguito Academy. Girls finals are scheduled May 17-18 at Scripps Ranch High School.
“I think we’ve exceeded expectations,” Corpus said. “I scheduled a lot of Division I teams and we played close games with them. We have been consistently winning against Division II teams.”
“We’ve had outstanding players throughout the years but this is probably the best team we’ve had since I’ve been coaching here,” said Locke, now in his seventh year at the helm.
“I think we match up very well with any team in Division II.”
San Diego Section Baseball Rankings
(MaxPreps through April 29)
DIVISION I
1. St. Augustine 19-4,2. Rancho Bernardo 17-5, 3. Cathedral Catholic 18-5, 4. Torrey Pines 17-7, 5. Patrick Henry 17-6-1, 6. Granite Hills 15-5, 7. Carlsbad 13-9, 8. Eastlake 16-5, 9. San Marcos 12-9, 10. La Costa Canyon 8-12-1, 11. Sage Creek 13-9-1, 12. Del Norte 12-11, 13. La Jolla Country Day 13-8-1, 14. Grossmont 13-10, 15. Poway 14-9, 16. Mission Hills 13-8-1, 17. Christian 10-12, 18. Montgomery 7-12, 19. Santana 5-17, 20. Steele Canyon 4-18
DIVISION II
1. Santa Fe Christian 18-4, 2. Point Loma 12-6-4, 3. Bonita Vista 16-6-1, 4. Maranatha Christian 15-7, 5. Coronado 13-9, 6. Madison 10-12-1, 7. San Pasqual 13-11, 8. Mt. Carmel 13-10, 9. Helix 10-12, 10. Scripps Ranch 10-14, 11. Classical Academy 10-12, 12. Rancho Buena Vista 10-12-1, 13. Vista 11-13, 14. Oceanside 11-10-2, 15. Westview 9-14, 16. West Hills 9-12, 17. Francis Parker 4-13, 18. Fallbrook 6-17, 19. San Dieguito Academy 6-17, 20. Canyon Crest Academy 5-18
DIVISION III
1. Valhalla 15-6, 2. El Camino 17-8, 3. Southwest El Centro 17-7, 4. La Jolla 16-6, 5. Brawley 14-6-2, 6. San Ysidro 16-8, 7. El Capitan 13-9, 8. Mission Vista 13-9, 9. Mater Dei Catholic 13-10, 10. Calexico 12-8-1, 11. Mission Bay 14-9, 12. Clairemont 13-10-1, 13. Mira Mesa 12-11, 14. Escondido 10-12, 15. Ramona 9-12-1, 16. Otay Ranch 6-17, 17. Bishop’s 7-14-1, 18. Olympian 8-14, 19. Holtville 4-12, 20. Mar Vista 5-18-1
DIVISION IV
1. University City 17-5, 2. Monte Vista 16-6-1, 3. Imperial 17-6, 4. Valley Center 11-11, 5. San Diego 14-10, 6. Hilltop 9-14-1, 7. Morse 10-12, 8. Sweetwater 12-8, 9. Escondido Charter 12-5, 10. Lincoln 10-12-1, 11. Palo Verde Valley 9-11-1, 12. Central Union 8-13-1, 13. Chula Vista 12-10, 14. Foothills Christian 15-9, 15. Canyon Hills 9-12, 16. High Tech High Chula Vista 8-11-1, 17. Southwest San Diego 5-14, 18. Tri-City Christian 5-12, 19. Castle Park 3-11 20. Pacific Ridge 6-15
DIVISION V
1. Mountain Empire 10-2, 2. Mt. Miguel 9-13, 3. Kearny 12-8, 4. Coastal Academy 12-7, 5. Orange Glen 11-5, 6. El Cajon Valley 9-10, 7. High Tech High San Diego 8-8, 8. Hoover 7-11, 9. Army-Navy Academy 4-11, 10. Guajome Park Academy 5-10. 11. Crawford 5-16, 12. High Tech High North County 4-9, 13. Bayfront Charter 6-10, 14. Chula Vista Learning Community Charter 1-8, 15. Gompers Prep Academy 2-9
DIVISION V-AA
1. Calvin Christian 15-2, 2. Rock Academy 8-9, 3. Liberty Charter 6-12, 4. Borrego Springs 11-6, 5. Bonsall 9-8, 6. Victory Christian Academy 9-6, 7. Ocean View Christian Academy 5-5, 8. Calipatria 4-12, 9. Vincent Memorial 4-6, 10. St. Joseph Academy 2-9, 11. Julian 3-4. 12. Warner 0-10
Metro Conference Standings
Metro-Mesa League: Eastlake 6-0 (18-5), Bonita Vista 3-3 (16-8-1), Montgomery 2-4 (9-12), otay Ranch 1-5 (6-19)
Metro-South Bay League: San Ysidro 7-2 (16-9), Mater Dei Catholic 7-3 (15-10), Olympian 5-4 (9-14), Hilltop 3-7 (9-16-1), Mar Vista 2-8 (6-19-1)
Metro-Pacific League: Sweetwater 5-1 (13-9), Southwest 4-2 (6-15), Chula Vista 3-3 (14-10), Castle Park 0-6 (3-13)
San Diego Section Softball Rankings
(MaxPreps through April 29)
DIVISION I
1. Del Norte (18-3), 2. Mater Dei Catholic (21-3), 3. Poway (15-6-1), 4. Cathedral Catholic (16-5), 5. Torrey Pines (16-4-2), 6. Rancho Bernardo (14-6-1), 7. La Costa Canyon (16-7), 8. Mission Hills (13-7-2), 9. Otay Ranch 11-9, 10. Bonita Vista 11-10-1, 11. Granite Hills (10-8), 12. Carlsbad (13-10), 13. Steele Canyon (14-5-1), 14. San Marcos (10-12), 15. Patrick Henry (13-10), 16. Rancho Buena Vista (12-8), 17. El Capitan (10-10-4), 18. Santana (8-13), 19. Helix (8-12), 20. Holtville (5-14-1)
DIVISION II
1. Eastlake (18-6), 2. Christian (17-5-1), 3. Imperial (19-3-1), 4. Calexico (11-10-1), 5. San Pasqual (11-10), 6. West Hills (13-8-1), 7. Westview (13-8), 8. Mt. Carmel (13-9), 9. Clairemont (8-10-1), 10. Mar Vista (9-11-1), 11. Brawley (10-10), 12. Bayfront (9-8-1), 13. Olympian (8-15), 14. Mira Mesa (6-15), 15. Valhalla (4-18), 16. Canyon Hills (7-10), 17. El Camino (8-14), 18. Hilltop (7-16), 19. Ramona (7-16)
DIVISION III
1. Pt. Loma (13-8), 2. Mission Vista (17-6), 3. Escondido Charter (16-4), 4. Oceanside (12-5-1), 5. Sage Creek (15-8), 6. Foothills Christian (8-3), 7. Scripps Ranch (13-9), 8. Madison (11-8-1), 9. Grossmont (7-9-2), 10. University City (8-13-1), 11. Coronado (11-7-1), 12. Southwest El Centro (6-10-1), 13. Tri-City Christian (7-10), 14. San Dieguito Academy (5-12), 15. Central Union (5-14), 16. Mission Bay (4-13), 17. Canyon Crest Academy (4-17), 18. Valley Center (3-18-1), 19. San Diego (7-15), 20. Escondido (2-16)
Metro Conference Standings
BASEBALL
Metro-Mesa League: Eastlake 6-0 (18-5), Bonita Vista 3-3 (16-8-1), Montgomery 2-4 (9-12), otay Ranch 1-5 (6-19)
Metro-South Bay League: San Ysidro 7-2 (16-9), Mater Dei Catholic 7-3 (15-10), Olympian 5-4 (9-14), Hilltop 3-7 (9-16-1), Mar Vista 2-8 (6-19-1)
Metro-Pacific League: Sweetwater 5-1 (13-9), Southwest 4-2 (6-15), Chula Vista 3-3 (14-10), Castle Park 0-6 (3-13)
CIF DIVING FINALS: Friday, May 3, at Granite Hills High School. Division I and Division II girls combined, competition starts at 10 a.m. Division I and Division II boys combined, competition starts at 2 p.m. or 90 minutes after girls event.
CIF SWIM FINALS: Saturday, May 4, at Granite Hills High School. Division I boys and girls competition starts at 9 a.m. (warmups at 7 a.m.) Division II boys and girls competition starts at 3 p.m. (warmups at 1:30 p.m.).
